Changing your mind — flip flopping :)

In the world of politics, it is considered a bad idea to change your mind. Look at Donald Trump, he will never apologize or take back any words. For his supporters, he is seen as a strong leader.

In real life though, you always have insufficient data to make a decision. You make up your mind and then decide. When new data becomes available you change or adapt.

Same way, a reasonable person is open to changing his/her mind when a new data is available. We evolve through our life. As we grow old changing your mind should become easier. Because you have less to loose and you are more pragmatic.

The idea that changing your mind at times is not a bad thing — needs to be explained to our young generation. That is also a basis for scientific thought process.

So how you go about it. We human beings are susceptible to confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. We need to look out for disconfirming evidence. A classic example these days is, if you are a Donald Trump supporter you look out for evidence which does not support your belief. Same way if you are a democrat and believe that Trump is a hitler, then you look out for evidence which is contrary to your belief.

Second is being humble. As you look for evidence, you have to accept that you may be biased and wrong. We human beings always look out for confirmation bias and explain away or rationalize any evidence which does not support our belief.

Any good books or youtube videos on how to tackle this issue? All suggestions welcome. (Preferably non academic ones).